Saturday, March 28, 2009

I found this image of our king Sigismunt III Vasa on wikipedia. We know now, based on the primary sources of his reign, that he was the first to receive the newly bred Spanish Andalusian Horses from the studs in Cordoba and Austrian at Lippica, his wife's family, the Austrian Habsburs, were the givers/ senders of these horses. We had used to call them Dzianet, after Jennet Genette, prior to the Corboban breed being established (AD 1576-9), so naturally they kept calling them 'dzianet's from Spanish 'el jenet', genete etc, as 'rumak' (from Turko-Persian argamak) was still reserved for the Oriental horses. Perhaps in this print Zygumunt III rides a Cordoban Spanish stallion, celebrating his armies' victory over the Turks at Chocim (Khotin) A.D. 1621.

Note that Richard Brzezinski et late Angus McBride (painter) reconstructed a winged hussar wielding a hussar lance (plate depicting Vienna AD 1683) in the same manner as Zygmunt here, in their Osprey book "Polish Armies 1569-1696" vol1. Perhaps the print was their inspiration, and obviously wrong, as the hussar lance or kopia was many between 3,5m to over 6meters long. Impossible to hold this lance in this manner. My friend Radek Sikora writes about the hussar lance in his articles accessible at http://www.hussar.com.pl/162/husaria-cz-3-radoslaw-sikora accidentally in this particular article there is my own drawing showing a long lance wielding hussar attacking a pikeman, circa AD 1626-33.

This new 'painting' technique is quite enjoyable and I am learning, and since this post is on the Iranians and their horses, I will start with this older image of a Parthian archer, and it was published by Inforteditions military book publisher from Chorzow Poland, in their book on the battle of Philippi (42 B.C) http://www.wanax.pl/index.php?p456,filippi-23-x-42-p-n-e .
Anyway, both sides to this battle, Octavian-Marcus Antonius and Brutus-Longinus, employed cavalry units drawn (hired) from across the Roman frontier, i.e., the Parthian Empire.

Whereas it is unknown if there were any Parthian cathaphracts (heavy-armored cavalry with long lances and armored horses ) in this battle, it is quite known that Parthian archers were present, for they were hired with a blessing form the High King. And my watercolor was to show one of the archers, using a horned saddle (Peter Connolly reconstructed one almost 20 years ago) and riding a stallion with a cranellated (cut) mane and fabric-wrapped tail, ancient Central Asian custom...

While I was reading this entry Wojna litewsko -rosyjska_1558-1570 on wikipedia I found this image above - two Polish riders with the standard: White Eagle in the red field. Most likely this is an ensign and his companion and they are part of some cavalry, perhaps Royal Cavalry Banner, in their parade clothing, with some very ornate horse tack - red and blue dyed leather .
They both carry Hungarian style sabres as this nomadic and Central Asian weapon became the weapon of choice for the Polish, Ruthenian and Lithuania nobility and military.
One can note the multicoloured clothing, the 'red' rider has most likely a ''żupan,'' with a blue collar put down, in the fashion of the second half of XVI century. Also note the spur on the standard bearer's boot.
Similar fashion and horse tack appear in the German woodcuts of the second half of the 16th century when Polish riders are depicted.
On the right my own old ink drawing of a winged hussar officer that is based on the German 1570s woodcut by a very prolific artist based in Nuremberg, Jost Amman.

About Me

Czołem/Salve, fellow net traveler... I am Dariusz aka Dario and this is my meydân. Born in the year of the Fire Horse hence I never tire of admiring, drawing & painting or sculpting horses, or just researching the history of equus cabalus, especially in the mounted warrior context. My drawings and paintings - prints - are available for sale (I use MyPaint, Krita & GIMP), I also do commissioned illustration etc, so if you need to contact me regarding a purchase, commission, or any other matter, do email me: darajawausz[at]gmail [dot] com
Ciao - Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas